SCC News

Eternal Hope

I can remember my first time as a pastor trying to counsel a couple through some marriage difficulties. I was ill equipped, yet I charged in with great intentions. We spent hours, weeks, and even months trying to work through the details and possible reasons for the deterioration of their relationship. We made some discoveries about why things were the way that they were. We talked a lot about communication and intent. These things are very important in a marriage by the way. It was a challenge and took a lot of work and time. About a year into the process, this young couple decided to call it quits on their marriage. I remember the look that both of them had on their face. They had simply lost all hope that they could make it through their struggles. In my desire to have it all figured out, I missed the fact that the one thing they needed was hope. No matter what the struggle is, everyone is looking for hope to make it through. Hope is the only thing that can help us through the things we are dealing with in our lives right now. The question is, what is our hope? Some might argue that their hope is something different in each situation to provide the motivation to make it through that specific scenario. I would argue that our hope is fixed and is the same no matter what the specific scenario. “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:8–9)

We often ponder the transformation power of the Gospel. It is truly amazing to experience the cleansing power of the blood of Christ. We are able to live our lives free from the bondage of sin and destined toward an eternity with God. We praise God daily for the right to be called “children of God” (John 1:12). But what does it mean right now? Why is all of this important when we have more life to live in a broken sinful world? The text of 1 Peter is a charge to the believer to live a life consistent with the assurance of our salvation, not inconsistently fluctuating with the fickle circumstances of this world. Each year, each hour, every minute, and second, we have an unchanging promise of being the chosen children of God for all eternity, through faith. This gives us the unprecedented ability to accomplish His glorious work here on earth.

Series Challenge: We would like to challenge you to follow along with us through this entire series of 1 Peter (7 weeks). If you miss a week, it’s alright; we upload the video to the website each week right after the service.

Just go to www.switzerlandcc.org and click on the “sermons” tab. If you are married, we encourage you and your spouse to take the challenge to read and discuss throughout the week. If you have a family, we are providing verses and questions for you to lead your family in discussion each day of the week in order to deepen your understanding of the text and to ultimately draw you closer to Christ. We are praying that you are not only encouraged each week that you come to church, but you are also challenged as you read the text of Scripture throughout this series.

Resources: We are providing three unique ways for you to take this study as deep as you would like over the next 7 weeks. – First, we have added the daily devotions, as I have already mentioned. These are designed to take you deeper into Scripture by using other verses to help you understand some of the major themes discussed. – Second, we will engage in our “Talk Back” study on Wednesday nights following the Sunday sermon. This time is designed to go deeper in discussion, and is centered on your questions in relation to the text. – Third, we are posting “Deep Dive” videos on the website. These are short supplemental videos that will show the text and creatively work through some of the deeper connections stemming from translation and basic discourse analysis.

2018: United in Christ

“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”

Ephesians 4:4–7

When I think back on 2017, I am overwhelmed with a variety of emotions. I guess this is fairly normal for a pastor. I am humbled to see how God has used the ministry of this church to impact the lives of so many. In many ways, 2017 was not an easy year. We experienced both celebrations through baptisms as well as the struggle of loss. Through all of these situations we have experienced the consistency and comfort of our Father in heaven. Let’s take a few moments to look back over this last year and celebrate some of what the Lord has done. Continue reading

Connect groups are the primary method of pastoral care and discipleship at Switzerland Community Church. Connect Groups can meet in many places and at many times, though many meet on campus on Sunday Morning. Connect Groups are organic, authentic, and intentional, and bring the church out of rows on Sunday morning and into the lives of everyone at SCC. If you can’t find an open group or one that fits, please let us know!

Project Pluma

Just a few weeks ago I stood in an open-air church that represents the light of the Gospel in a small town called Pachutla in Oaxaca Mexico. I watched as approximately 20 church leaders gathered to learn and fall deeper in love with the Word of God. I was immediately struck with the thought that we are a part of something so much bigger than ourselves, our local church, even our country. We are a part of the Global Church that God is using to reveal His Glory. I only went to Oaxaca Mexico. How can I say that this is a part of the Global work of God? Because no matter where we have gone, whether it be Oaxaca Mexico, the Black Earth Region of Russia, India, or Thailand, we are seeing the same explosion of pastors and leaders being equipped by the Word of God. I want to take a few minutes of your time in this newsletter article to report the blessings we experienced through our time in Pluma / Pachutla.

Let Us Be Thankful!

“You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever! (Psalm 118:28-29) As we look outside at the changing leaves and feel the (sporadic) cooler weather, we are reminded of God’s seasons. He faithfully brings Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter each year and we are thankful for His consistency. In the same way, a Church Family goes through seasons. We can look back at the busy and bustling Summer months, filled with One Way Clubs and Fam Jams in our community. We can see the start of the school year and the re-entry into routine for so many families. We can, most recently, look back at the Fall Festival and praise God for all the new friendships that were formed and conversations that took place. And now, as our church family looks forward to Advent, let us be thankful. Continue reading

Renewed Focus

This month marks the beginning of the end of 2017. That sounds very morbid, but you know what I mean. We are entering the final quarter of this year. The end of 2017 brings with it excitement and a renewed focus on Jesus’ work in the church. We can all look back on this year and see how the Lord has developed us as a body. In the spring of this year, we entered a Sunday series through the book of Ephesians. We were challenged with the call to unity and growth as a body. After that series, we entered a short five-week series on the reformation. We focused our attention on the five “Solas” of the reformation. We were challenged to understand the theological propositions within their 16th century context and apply the conviction to our lives as protestants. Then, we entered the Summer with the crazy idea of working through three of the major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel) in ten short weeks. We focused our attention on the “call” of each prophet, the major “issue” presented, and finally the “hope” presented in each one for God’s people. The last and final week of that series we focused on the messianic hope presented in each prophet and how it was fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Meeting Jesus & Meeting Others

School has started and parents are starting to breathe easier now that their family can enter a routine that is not crazy and exhausting (maybe I only speak for myself). However, I have quickly realized that I have simply traded one inconvenience for another. Oh, how quickly I forgot all of the nuances associated with children and school. One of the hot topics in my house is homework. Now to be clear, our school system does not issue a lot of homework, but any homework is clearly the end of the world for a child in the Smith house. We spend countless hours debating “why” we have to do homework. Yes you heard me right, we spend hours debating “why”, before we “do” the thirty minutes of homework. My son likes to express his discontent by informing me that “I can’t wait until I am done with school, so I never have to learn another thing again.” He displays immense frustration as I explain to him that life does not work that way. Honestly, when we stop learning, life loses momentum. I like to use the term “discovery”. One of the most energizing parts of life is discovery. Some might even argue that discovery is the foundation of humanity. I feel this exhilaration every time I prepare for a Bible teaching. There is little that can compare with the continual discovery of the riches in God’s Word. The moment we think we have it figured out, we find that it goes even deeper. We could spend the rest of our lives in pure discovery in the pages of Scripture.

The summer of 2017 has proven to be a short summer indeed. I took the last few weeks of July for vacation and my son and I went to the Florida Keys. When my son realized how close we are to the start date of school he began his prominent ten-year-old lament. This primed my thoughts toward the accomplishments over this summer, as well as what is in store for the fall. If you have been at Switzerland Community Church for any length of time, you know that our continued prayer is that the Word of God becomes an unquenchable thirst in the lives of every member. I am continually overwhelmed by the power and beauty within the pages of Scripture. May the passion and excitement of His Word take each of our lives by storm. Continue reading